"At my practice, compassionate care is our top
priority. That's why we're part of the Presbyterian family because they hold the same beliefs about quality care
as we do.
"Managed care is here to stay. And so is our commitment
to providing our patients with the level of quality medical care
that people associate with Presbyterian Healthcare.
"So when it comes time to choose a health plan, select
one that offers access to the Presbyterian family. Not only are
you choosing a plan, you're also selecting a doctor who cares
about you ."

to do business with companies located in the area and 28 percentfJr conventions
or other meetings . Here's what local hotels are doing to cater to t - ese travelers.

17

real estate biz

bringing history to life
Pappas Properties, in partnership
with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic

•
•

Cotton Mills in downtown Charlotte.

the hauntrepreneur
Philip Morris is expanding his Halloween
empire with a state-of-the-art, theater·
quality haunted labyrinth that will shock
even the most jaded haunted house goer.
And you're invited ...

self-appointed "master of madress" for Little & A!Scciates is all busin f.;s. As fo · his

•
•

•
•
•
•
•

e

r

the master of madness

•
•

•
•

•

u

t

on the o:c•ver: This
month's cover [ean.1. re~ Bill
Little of Little 51 Associates.
He was phO"o;;rr. phui by
Wayn e Mcnis, and the
image was con posi ~ed with
a digita. c ty;ca{'e !Jy
Sllyscnper Dif ital.

Lane Ostrow, presiden t of iReadyWorld,
is targeting small businesses
with a new approach to business
applications: all the hardware,
high-speed Internet access and lead ing
business software you need without ever having to buy a thing.

is north carolina losing the race?
Whenever an economy slows, businesses are more aggressive about pursuing avenues for reducing their costs. We
all know that that Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve
have been boosting interest rates to raise the costs of borrowing money in an attempt to slow down our surging
economy. Evidence from labor statistics, purchasing man-

John Paul Gc;l/es

agers and key economic indexes suggest that the economy is
Publisher
beginning to slow. Bank of America, First Union, Wachovia,
Centura and other area banks have announced layoffs of thousands of workers

throughout their operating footprints.
Recent stories from the The Charlotte Observer and The Business journal report that
Celanese Acetate and United Stationers, Inc. are considering moving a global headquarters and a major distribution center from Mecklenburg County, NC to York County, SC.
These moves of approximately 400 people and investments totaling $40 millior across
the state line are substantial reminders that different state tax structures and incentives
are important factors in the location and relocation of corporate entities.
While Microsoft decided to keep its regional support ce nter in Charlotte, York County
has in the last few years attracted headquarters for United American Video near Fort Mill,
Willamette Industries in Kingsley Park and Muzak at Lakemont Park. Ironically, Celanese
Corp.'s first location in Charlotte was the original South Park structure, built across from a
dairy farm in what was then rural Mecklenburg County. It helped launch the development
boom in southeast Charlotte in the 1950s that continues even today.
In the past year, I have heard increasingly irritated comments about North Carolina (NC)
taxes and more active interest in relocating to South Carolina (SC) . Adding insult to injury,
paying higher taxes in NC doesn't seem to deliver new and improved highways and railways
quickly enough to keep up with the expanding population.
Having lived in Indiana and Michigan for many years, I watched those two states
bicker over business costs including income, property and sales taxes, as well as unemployment and worker's compensation costs. Michigan had generally higher taxe s and
so lost businesses relocating to save money across the Indiana border. I have flown
along the border and the visual impact of development along the state line confirms that
people and businesses chose to live and operate in Indiana with firms and homes built
right up to the state line. There was a noticeable absence of homes and firms o n the
Michigan side of the state line . In response to Indiana advertisements attracting
Michigan businesses, Michigan touted its schools and higher quality of life as a result of
its "investment" in Michigan citizens and businesses .
I suspect that some of the same comparisons could be made between NC and SC.
Per capita tax rate in SC was $1482 versus $1837 in NC, according to the Bureau of
Economic Analysis in the US Department of Commerce for 1996. It is quite apparent that
SC is making a substantial investment to attract businesses to its side of the state line.
All you need to do is drive south on 1-77 and see the widened road surfaces to accommodate increased traffic toward SC and away from Charlotte. Convenient access to the
Charlotte Douglas airport and quick access to 1-85 make York County an attractive
location with lower business costs. Government officials and residents of NC will
have to work harder to promote the quality of life and the benefits of living in NC and
to make these more evident.
While it is unfortunate for NC that businesses will selectively move across t he
state line for lower taxes and incentives, it is also quite smart of SC to pursue C
businesses at this time . The good news is that while SC will grow and expand its
tax base, there is greater motivation for NC to expand its commitment to infrastructure
and provide a higher return to NC taxpayers for their "investments" in quality of life.
Businesses are making the adjustments that they must make to operate successfully
for their investors and stockholders. It is important that NC work to meet the needs of
its taxpayers just as aggressively.

greater charlotte biz

Monday
November 6th
II :30 Lunch/Pract ice
Jor !.be Boue of!.be 9ame

12:30 Shotgun Tees Start

Pull up your socks and grab your knickers. We have
a good One tO play. T his is one of the top courses in the area and yo u w ill be p eased.
Join us for a day of golf, lunch and a little game. We will have a $1 0 grass and net game, winners take all! Bring
your regular group, or we'll help you network w ith new folks. (:Ne try to match like-handicaps.) Just $55 overs
everything but your wagers. No speakers, no fund raising, and not much fuss. Just a day of fun and golf.

Schaffner to Speak at firstround.org
Mark Schaffner of the Ben Craig Center will speak about business incubators at firstround.org's November
28th meeting. The group meets the fourth Tuesday of every month at 6:00p.m. atThe Paladian, 127 N.
Church St. Ste. 8 in downtown Charlotte. For more information, visit their Web site at www.firstround.org.
~

new high-tech netwcrkjng groups form
Two nevr net11c· r~in.5 gr:>Ur:s are evolving in Charlotte in the wake of local dot-com
group firstro und.orf'.; success.
Ale>.anc:E- Cruz, soLthe.ast alliance development manager for Applied Theory,
which has ofio:es n Ch.,.-lot:e, Raleigh, and throughout the Southeast, says he will be
launchi~

a Charlot:e chapt:!r cf The Internet Society <www.ISOC.org>.

The lnten et Scdety is a professional membership group with 150
organization3l and 5.00) individucl members in more than 100 countries. It is
the orgaliza· ion 1rat provides a home for groups that define Internet infrastructure standards, such ;a=: t h:: Internet engineering Task Force and the Internet Architecture Board.
More in lormaliJl is availaJle at <www.egroups.comjgroupfiSOCCharlotte>.
Charlott:! Conv:!rgence, formed by Scott Mehler, a strategic alliances and investments assoc ate al J3nkofa-netica.com, held its first meeting in September.
Mehler dEscribes tre g·oup as a gathering of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists,
angel investors and ~ervice providers. In a statement announcing the group, he said,
"The concep- is to ulite the3e grea: minds in an informal setting and watch the gray matter fly." More ilfomatiol is avcilatle by sending e-mail to
Charlottecon;ergen : e@~ahoo.com

in Catawba County.
With 60 percent of the nation's furniture
produced within a 200-mile radius of Hickory,
the county's largest city, the area is still touted as
the "Furniture Capital of the World." But Catawba
County has diversified its manufacturing base, and
today is also gaining
worldwide notice as

ne ::atav;ba

(Brookford, Catawba, Claremont,
Conover, Hickory,
Long View, Maiden
and Newton, the
county seat) are

optic cable manufac·

focusing their eco-

tured here, that label

nomic development

is more than just hype.

efforts. Going after

Coaxial cable compa·

new companies is

nies are moving to

important, but so is

Catawba, and some

making cable

pla:e.''

Those announcements demonstrate the way
Catawba County and its eight municipalities

of the world's fiber-

w13t 11tilil:ies

t1em ir

largest telephone equipment company, announced
nearly $8 million worth of capital investment.

With some 40 percent

are employed i n

~t

sion, and Alcatel, the world's largest manufacturer
of telecommunications cable products and second

"TeleCom Valley."

10,000 people

ha•1:e, an!l v.l'c:t twill

announced $145 million in projects- building a
new plant in Newton and expanding two existing

VY13t thezo1ing;is.,

c: =t to

world's leaaing manufacturer of coaxial cable,

ones. Corning announced a $40 million expan-

parcels 2·e 3Jai .a ble,
th ~y

new and expanded businesses, three times what
its previous best year had been. CommScope, the

the programs were both manufactured

ildrr inis rater

01=11e~t

Arn

to watch TV and the cable that delivers

development year in 1999 with $325 million in

taking care of the
ones already there.
"We're high
on existing indus-

(or supporting

tries, and I have one

its manufacture)
for such companies as Corning Cable,

person on my staff who

Count'/ El>C is creat-

CommScope and Alcatel. Corning and CommScope

does nothing but solve headaches for them," Millar

ing a Qu =lit·• SiE>

are the county's two largest employers.

notes. "If we take their headaches away, they're

ProgrEm hct wi l

"That's roughly equivalent to the number

int ude, in c lxi11klet

employed in the textile and hosiery fields com·

"Veil a::. 01 a CD

bined," observes Scott Millar, president of the

a~

RC '1\, 3 I ;t • ; rr ~!-.:!·

Catawba County Economic Development

dia:el" a... ai~tle

Corporation (EDC). "Cable is a niche employer

qoolfiec sit?s ft>r

that very few people can claim, and we hope to

in::lustrii' a1d cerr-

encourage clustering and further development."

me ·cia I u;e~. It -vi I

For example, the public school systems, as well

more likely to stay and grow here.
Says j.R. Steigerwald, economic development
coordinator for the City of Hickory, "We all make a
concerted effort to visit with our existing industries
so we know what they need ahead of time . With
our low une11ployment rate, we're going to get
most of our industrial growth out of existing indus·
tries, people who are already committed to the

in: ude irfo ·mari-Jn

higher educational institutions such as Catawba

on =ngirJeer ng

Valley Community College and Lenoir·Rhyne College,

area and know the cost of doing business here.

wc k, en ... ircnrrenlal

all offer programs to train workers for this industry.

We need these industries to make intensive

a~:;essment5,

The fiber-optic and coaxial cable industry- a

sc il

sc 1pling. -....at=r nd

$5 .5-billion global endeavor- was a major reason

s:: A"er ad z:mir.g.

why Catawba enjoyed such a banner economic

g r e3 te ~-

c h a - l otte b i z

capital investments here."
Catawba, with a population of about 134,000
and located 50 miles from Charlotte, has an

october 2000

>13

economy th at is inte nsely based on
manufacturing. With more than 550
industries, the county ranks third in the
state in number of manufacture rs. Some
43 percent of its workforce is emp loyed
in the manufacturing sector, compared to
the national average of about 16 percent.
Furniture remains the top industry, employing about 16,000 people at such companies as Hickory Chair, The Lane Company,
Broyhill Furniture, Century Furniture and
Sherrill Furniture. The workforce is an
extraordinarily good one, with a manufacturing productivity rate of 32 percent,
compared to the state rate of 18 percent
and the national rate of 20 percent.
Industry Week magazine ranked

the Hickory-Morganton- Lenoir area
eighth among its listing of world-class
communities, based , in part, on coopera tion among industry, government and
educational institutions.
Even with an unemployment rate
that has hovered at between two to three
percent over the last three years, only
about 12 percent of Catawba's workforce
works outside the county. The average
commute takes 17 minutes. "Ou r roads
and highways have been built befo re the
congestion arrives," Steigerwald observes.

The area' s newest highway - US
321 - is bringing many changes that will
have an impact on residents for years to
come. Completed early last year a: a cost
of $45 millio n, US 32 1 makes the area
much more accessible to Charlotte,
especially its airport, now just 35-40
minutes away. " I can get to the airport
faster than some people who actually
live in Cha rlotte," Millar says.
The highway was a factor in Getrag
Gears' $80-million expansion announce-

Building Partnerships and So iJtions
"Just-in-Time ' 1o- a Fast-Paced Wor1d .

www.bcsmis.com

ment last year. But that was just a start.
There are three interchanges in Catawba,
one each in Maiden, Newton and Hickory.
The three municipalities are in the
process of adding infrastructure, such as
water, sewer and electricity, in preparation for the expected industrial sites to

B siness Control Systems, L.P.

follow. In Mai den a 90-acre busin ess

4C2 VIest Trade Street, Suite 102
Charlotte, r C 28202

park, Cansler Crossing, is being privately
developed . In Newton, at Highway 10,

1~800-945-2931

400 acres are being prepared for a
business park. And the City of Hickory
is creating a master

14

octobe r 2COC

>-

grea t er ch arlo tte b iz

plan for nearly 200 acres at Exit 42 that

~r Oients Can Express Our Value Best

it will develop into River Road Business
Park. "It's like growing grapes - you
don't get wine the first year," Steigerwald
says. " It'll take three to five years for us

to truly feel the impact"
As the largest city in the area and
home to the 1-million-square foot Furniture
Mart, Hickory gets a lot of tourism traffic.
Tourism is about a $300 million industry
in the county and employs well over 2,000
people. In 1997, the 70,000-square-foot
Hickory Metro Trade Center openec and
is developing a healthy convention trade.
The Shriners will hold their annual state
convention here in November, and the
Kiwanis' Caro li nas Conference will come
to town in 2002 .
Hickory is also developing another

connections. Synthetic Industries is
building a 100,000-sqaure-foot fc. cility
there with plans for future expansion,
and Hickory Park Associates, already
with 77,000 square feet in the Fu rn iture
Mart, is adding a 100,000-sqaure-foot
warehouse in the park.
While Catawba is enjoying growth,
so far it has been able to keep pace with
it Reader's Digest recently ranked the
area as the10th best place in the U.S. to
raise a family, citing its low crime rate,
good public schools, quality health care,
clean environment, strong economic
growth, access to colleges, activities for
youth and affordable cost of living. The
median wage is increasing, leadi ng to
more interest in the area by retailers.
Housing starts are increasing, too . A
new development, Wind Song, located
on Catawba Valley Boulevard, recently
sold 29 lots in four weeks. Prices range
from $100,000 to $135,000.
There is also a lot of cooperation
among the agencies looking to foster
Catawba's growth. "We have separate jobs,
but they are so related ," says Ann Sperry,
Newton's community and economic development administrator. "The county is lucky
because we all work together and cooperate as much as we can so we can do the
best for everybody."

bizinfo
The single most
po.verf.JI historic
p; eser..-ation tool
un:ler North
Carolina Law is the
le~l ertity known
as a Historic
Landmarks
Comm ssion. It
e:< sts to recommend tfle designatbn of individually
significant historic
p路oper: ies as historic landmarks and
to secl. re the
p路 eservation of
same. The CharlotteMecklelburg
Hi;toric Landmarks
Comm ssion was
e;tablished by
joint action of the
Charlotte City
Council and
the Board of
Commissioners of
Mecklenburg County
in 1973.
The essential test
c:J whether property qual fies for histo路ic landmark desi&nation is whether
it Jossesses individual historic signific::nce. There is no
sJecific age requirement. It could have
been built last year
if it has individual
historic significance.
nere is no legal
n:quirement that
the OV\oner has
to agree to have a
pr.>perty designated
as a historic landmark, but the commission by policy
ekes not process
pr.>perties for
historic landmark
designation unless
t1 e O'M'ler requests
S.Jt:h designation.

bringing history to life
partnership to renovate charlotte cotton mills
You know a project is something special when Lloyd

window on our past," says Dan Morrill of the

Scher, arguably the most liberal member of the

Historic Landnarks Commission . "We have saved

Mecklenburg County Commission, makes a motion

the most historic building in uptown Charlotte."

to support it, and Bill James, undoubtedly its most
conservative member, seconds the motion.
But that's just what happened this summer

"This is a significant project for us," says
Fred Bolt, sen ior vice president of Pappas
Properties . "We're adaptively re-using an important

when the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks

building and providing residential housing where,

Commission <www.cmhpf.org> sought approval

only a few years ago, no one thought people

from the County Commission to purchase and

would want to live. It's an excellent example of a

renovate, as a partner with Pappas Properties, the

joint public-private venture."

1880 Charlotte Cotton Mills in downtown Charlotte.
The vote that followed was unanimous.

Today, the site of Charlotte's first cotton mill
doesn't look l'ke much. The original red brick has

An artist's rendering shows what the new Charlotte Cotton Mills will look like when completely renovated.
Work begins this fall on the two-acre-plus
project at Graham and Fifth streets, called -

been painted green, and the arched windows
fronting Fifth Street are boarded up. The side facing

appropriately enough -the Charlotte Cotton Mills.

Graham Street features a mural of a double knit

When comp leted, it will feature 60,000 square

weave, created by Gaines Brown in the early 1970s.

feet of owner-occupied loft office space in two

That part will go in the process of renovation Morril

existing buildings (a third one will be razed), 185

says, to reveal "a compelling fenestration pattern

loft-style apartments in three new mid-sized towers,

and phenomenal detailing in the brick work."

a parking deck for the offices and apartments,

"This will be a great place," Morrill adds, "one

and a separate parking facility for the new home

that will add texture to uptown and let people see a

for Land Design, located adjacent to the mill

sense of continuity between our past and future."

property in another historic building.
"This building [Charlotte Cotton Mills] could

The site is certainly a reflection of the city's
history. Charlotte Cotton Mills was founded by

have been torn down very easi ly, and people would

Charlottean R.M . Oates and his three nephews

have forgotten about it, and we would have lost a

and began operating in December 1880 as part

g re a te r c h ar lotte b iz

october 2000

>17

and business were an integral part of

What the Charlotte Cotton Mills building
looks like today.

of the post-Civil War industrialization that
transformed the old Confederacy into the
"New South ." (The plural "mills" was
used because its operations included
both spinning and weaving.)
After the war, textile manufacturers
began moving to the South to be closer
to the cotton fields. Morrill says that what
makes Charlotte Cotton Mills so significant is not only that it was the first mill in
Mecklenburg, but that it was started by

formed company, Pappas Properties,

quent owners and tenants reflected that:

entered negotiations. After about a year, the

Charlotte Leather Belting Company,

deal was struck. The commission is putting

Southern Dairies, the Model Steam Laundry

up $4 million to buy one of the two mill

Company and the ].B. lvey Company, which

buildings and to hire Pappas Properties for

had a warehouse on the site.

renovating it at cost. Changes to the site will

In the 1940s, Morris Speizman
Speizman Industries, to the site. The firm,

because of the level of endangerment

largest refurbishers of sock manufactur-

the mill was in, the economic viability

ing equipment, operated there until

of the project, and the site's historical

about two years ago.

significance . We were driven by history."
Pappas is buying the other building,

"We are re-creating a
great place that will be
as important to the future

local businessmen . "This set the tone for

to its past_"

Charlotte, and by 1895, the city and the
region had become a major textile center.
This, in turn , laid the foundation for
Charlotte's emergence as a business and
transportation hub some 100 years later.
By March 1881, Charlotte Cotton Mills

"This is a big commitment on our
part," Morrill says. "But we went ahead

which grew to become one of the world's

the city and sent a message that it had a
he comments. It drew many more mills to

be approved by the commission .

brought his textile machinery company,

of Charlotte as it was

climate of opportunity for industrialists,"

got out to Peter Pappas, and his newly-

Charlotte's economy, and the site's subse-

at a slightly higher cost, and is assembling the land for the rest of the project.
The firm will complete the renovation and
market the two buildings as office lofts,
and the commission will sell its share
soon after completion. Bolt says work
will begin early next year after the sale

-

Fred Bolt, Pappa Properties

The site sat vacant as the Speizmans
tried to sell it. The building had been
designated an historic landmark in 1985,
and the family approached the Historic
Landmarks Commission about buying it.

is formally closed in November and
should take about four to six morths
to complete. "We'll market these office
lofts aggressively so we can get the
property back on the tax rolls," he
says. "We're also hoping to find a
restaurant for the first floor."

had 5,800 spindles. By 1895, the number

Last November, Mecklenburg County voters

of spindles had increased to 9,000, and it

approved $7.5 million in bonds for a revolv-

Charlotte Cotton Mills continues to reflect

also had a large weaving operation with

ing fund so the commission could buy and

the city's history. Downtown Charlotte is

208 looms. As the industry grew, the mill

sell endangered historic structures.

couldn't keep up with its larger competitors,

But even with those resources,

Even in its new incarnation,

not only enjoying a business revitaliza tion, but people are returning to the

and so shut its doors in 1910. But that

purchase of Charlotte Cotton Mills was

center city to live . The site's adaptive

wasn't the end of its story- manufacturing

beyond the commission's means. Word

re-use respon ds to that trend.

>

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"There's an incredible return to cities
across the country, and Charlotte 路s part
of it," observes Frank Warren of Karnes

Research Co ., which tracks commercial
real estate trends in the area. Warren
notes that as of February, there were only
about 600 apartments in the center city.
None were added between 1991 and
about 1998, when First Ward Place
opened, and 60 percent of those units
are dedicated to low-income housing.
However, there are now 1,148 apartment
units proposed for the area.
Bolt calls the apartments at
Charlotte Cotton Mills the city's "first true
all residential loft-style development."
Apartments will range from 450 to 1,200

Believe

square feet in size and rent for about

lll

$1.40 per square foot. Post Gateway
Place, wh ich features a public park, is
across Fifth Street, and an urban park
may be added behind the new complex.
One tower will be 10 stories, another
four stories will sit on a four-story parking
deck, and the third tower will be eight
stories. "The apartments will have high
ceilings and will offer tremendous views of
uptown," Bolt says. Construction should be
completed in about 18-24 months.
This is a very different kind of project
for Pappas Properties, which Pappas
formed in February 1999 after many years
with Johnny Harris and Lincoln Harris

At Ro bi nso n, Brads haw & Hinson, we deve lop innovative

Properties. "This is our first community to

so lu tions for our cl ients' lega l needs. We understand th e

feature vertical construction," Bolt says.

chal lenges facing both emerging and established com pa nies
in today's complex business environ ment. O ur approach is
ta ilored to each cl ient's unique situation so that we provide
the most effective advice and the most effective solutions to
meet our cl ients' goa ls.

"But we see a clear trend toward in fill,
mixed-use developments."
It's the same kind of development
Pappas is planning for Mancheste r,
located on South Boulevard on the former
Duke Power land on the outer reaches of
South End . If the conditional zoni ng is

Ro binson, Bra dshaw & H inson -a tr adi tion of exce ll ence.

approved by Charlotte City Council, the
project will feature 400 residential units,
as well as 70,000 square feet of retail

home for the Charlotte Trolley Barn .
But now the work begins at Charlotte
Cotton Mills. Says Bolt, "We are re-creating
a great place that will be as important to the
future of Charlotte as it was to its past."

empl oys over 500 people in eight regional o ffi ces, and generates over $5 0 million in annual billings.

ec..

He has been described o n occasion as quirky, even a littl e eccentric, but he describes himself as rather
shy, fea rfu l of public speaking, and even a pocket pro tecto r nerd Upo n meeting him, however, o ne is

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e5k o see<J•r•onfolw

summers cutting grass, trimming mops
on an assembly line, and most m emorably, performing various jobs at the
Loray-Firestone Mi ll where his parents
were employed. One of those jobs was
to dean the humidifiers on the ceiling
of the workrooms without electrocuting
himself on the electrical parts; another
was to get down on the oiled floor and
mop solvent from underside of th e textile machines without getting the mop
caught in the open motor. In those days
before air conditioners, this was hot and
sticky work, but Little considered him self lucky to get a job and his family
needed the money. Little acknowledges,
"I was young then ... It'd kill me now! "
He worked hard and played
hard, especially in varsity football at
old Gastonia Central High School.
AJthough he was small and played on
the B-team, he was a ferocious competitor, never willing to give up. Littl e
recounts a particular play when he was
completely open, running for a touchdown. He tripped over his own t et.
"The coach came runnin ' out there,
pulled up this chunk of grass and said
'T knew somebody was goin' to get hurt
on that! ' He said I had the damnedest
pair of legs he'd ever seen- I was bowlegged and on top of that I ran funny
-and Twas 'Crazy Legs' after that. "
Little was a fair student but worked
hard. His first year at the University of
North Carolina, he intended to major
in business. But after taking an aptitude
test that indicated strengths in math
and art, a counselor suggested he pursue
architecture at NC State. It was known
to be an especially difficult program,
but Little was accepted and persevered .
Upon graduation, he had several
job offers based on his reputation as an
artist and designer. Not wanting to get
trapped in a narrow corner of the architectural world, he accepted a position
with Richard Gi ll espie Architects, a
small firm in 1958 "on the theory that
I needed to understand how to do

greater charlotte biz

everything about the architectural business, not just draw pretty pictures,"
recounts Little. "I wanted to learn the
whole thing. He (Richard! did houses
and small commercial buildings with
only two people in the office, so I got to
do everything."
After four years with Gillespie, Little
wanted to work on bigger projects and
so he sought out his next position. He
received four offers. Again, they wanted
him for his artistic talent, but he still
wanted to learn more so he took a job
that actually paid the least. That job was
with Cameron & Associates, Inc. Headed
by AI Cameron, the eight-person firm
was working on big projects. Little was
soon invited to become a partner and
the company became Cameron, Little
& Associates in 1964.

Known as the Prince of Architecture
in orth Carolina, Al Cameron built
major projects including the American
Building in downtown Charlotte. Little
respectfully describes Cameron as goodlooking and articulate, very talented
with a forceful personality. In contrast,
Little asserts that he himself was quite
the "nerd." He says he had a flattop
haircut and horned-rim glasses, and
wore polyester shirts all week long and
carried his bag lunch to work. Little
thought Cameron was a great designer,
but knew there was a huge difference
between their styles.
Quite unexpectedly in 1967,
Cameron suffered a massive heart attack
"It was my fear factor at the young
age of 42
said that you should and died .
design for the
Suddenly,

customer. We got
more business from
those customers
because we listened
to them. That was
the turning point in
my life."

the nerd was
in charge of
the firm .
"The first
thing I did
was toquestion whether
I wanted to
take charge
- Bill Little of the firm. I
didn't know if I wanted to be an administrator. To have your own office was
OK, but it wasn't me," he recalls. "I was
prepared to go get a job. What made me

happy was just doing the work. And
now I was faced with a different job. T1e:
future of the firm was in my hands, and
I had never made a presentation or
called on a client on my own. And I CETtainly didn't know the first thing abou:
running a business."
At the time, the firm had about si=
months' worth of work. "We had fo ur
customers. I went around to assure thm
that their projects would be completec
to their satisfaction. We were going to
listen better," says Little. "Cameron's
philosophy had been the old school
of designing for awards. It was my fear
factor said that you should design for
the customer. We got more business

from those customeJ3 beca-.1se wE li ste-Jed to tLem . That '"'a~ th e turn ing
pc•int in n-y life. "
Little recalls hiE fir:.t JXesentation
to a poten: ial client ..,·In was the sch
s~erinterxlent and the school board
in Gastonia. "I had r ev~r presented t•:
ar,rbody. I went out :md got me a book
It sa id that you had t.o get their a:tention. And I though·. 'VI'e are a ccmpan :
of ideas. I (ail ed thE office and had
a 5uy male up a mttal halo with a
li&h t bulb on top w red dcwn to my
pocket so could tlill :ton ·Nhen I
nklde my presentati.::n.
"It came my tu-n and I ' tood up
ar::l saw p ~op le 's fao:es- :hey di:in't >

oc:ober 200C

:!.5

~.J·::>:- 100

gooc. Needless to say, we didn't

:~e:t1hat

job. Eut the superintendent
: ai'IIIE tc work for us four years later.
H ~ :: :J.~d

six years the firm thrived, fueled by the
real estate boom of the early '70s. Little
admits, "I had no idea at the time of
the risk involved. We had an economic
downturn in 1974, people moved out
of the apartments and we owed more
cash to lenders than we had payroll. "
Overextended and about two weeks
before bankruptcy, Little turned to a
young assistant who had joined the firm
the previous year, Ed McMahan, then
29. Ed had a background in commercial
lending and real estate investment, and
more importantly an idea to help him
get out of his dilemma. "I told Ed that
he was my last hope. I told him that if
he could help me, I would give him 50
percent of everything I made from that
point on. We owed about $1 million to

to pay everything back. Over seven years

20 years ago and the two men have been

force known for his bright although
sometimes wild ideas. He is a risk-taker,
visionary, never-sit-still leader. " He
quotes Little as saying, "If you' re stationary, you make an easy target."
Little is confident that the two
opposing personalities work out well for
the firm's management. For example,
when Little was diagnosed with chronic
fatigue syndrome some years ago, "I just
wanted to quit and sell the company to
our division heads. Ed convinced me to

WE BELIEVE STUDENT

ATHLETES'GPAs
SHOULDBE AS IMPORTANT
AS THEIR RBIS.

That's why we're proud to sponsor the Hood Hargett Breakfast Club Athlete of the Month,
which honors students for their performance both on and off the field. Every month through
June 2001, a high school senior in the Charlotte area will be named Student Athlete of the
Month and will receive a $1,000 scholarship. And in June, one of them will win $5,000 as
our Athlete of the Year. We especially admire these outstanding seniors because at Hood
Hargett we strive to be the best in our field too. We take a different
approach to commercial and personal property and liability
insurance. We don't just sell insurance. We provide insurance
counseling so you know you're getting exactly the coverage
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you need, not too much or too little. So call us at 374-1863.

~En

c ctoter 2000

greater c har lott e bi z

give up just 49 percent and keep conuol
of the remainder. "I can't tell you the
number of times he's saved me from
doing something stupid."
Little credits much of his success to
his continuing philosophy of putting the
client first- acknowledging that, "Our
clients know what they want better than
we do. So we listen to them tell us what
they want, then we design it to meet their
needs within a budget they've set, and
complete the job ahead of schedu le. "
In the mid-1980s, Little restructured
the firm to focus o n the different types
of buildings. There are currently fifteen
divisions specializing in twelve different
building types including financial
faci lities, offices, schools, commercial
retail, food service, rollout retail, civic,
government and correctional facilities,
manufacturing facilities and college
and university buildings, each division
autonomous and led by partners of the
firm. The divisions are supported by a
core of shared services - administration, finance, engineering, facilities
management, and 30 rendering and >

a- i:;nation. He says, "The beauty of thE
suncture is th at it lets our people focu~
OC1 designing, serving the client with t.J-.e
sJ:ÂŤialist they need. The centralized corr:orc.~e core takes care of the drudge work."
At first, the restructuring, which h~d
co::me to him after reading Tom Peters'
b:o::>k In Search of Excellence, didn't work
so well. Little recalls, "In the beginning I
'Ac still a dictator. The new structure

o::::.ldn't work. Then a funny thing ha(:(T-Iled - I was diagnosed with chronic
fc.~ gue syndrome. It took my getting sU:k
ro oosen my grip on the organization
a-:d to find out that other people could
sk:> up and do the job - as it turned
o_: . much better than I could."
Today, Little and Associates is the
lc:~gest architectural and engineering
firm in the Carolinas and 22nd largest
in ~e nation. The firm delivers a divese
se ~ ction of related services including
s tegic facilities consulting, computera ded facilities management, technology
comulting, digital modeling and ani!lBti=Âˇâ&#x20AC;˘ . and land planning. It employs over
s:: people in eight locations and has

annual billings over $50 million. Little's
strongest desire is to sell more of the
company's stock to the new generation
of leaders over the next few years, at
least doubling the number of partners.
His real passion is to develop
leadership. He enjoys throwing employees into the fire and letting them do the
job hands-on. Although it sometimes
results in momentary anarchy, and
unnerves more than a few employees,
Little has found that it encourages
creativity and flexibility. His design of
the Parachute Room - an eight-sided
creativity room with brightly colored
furniture and toys and a ceiling draped
io parachute material, is exemplary of
his attempts to "deprogram and reprogram employees to view work as fun
and disruption as good."
When asked to describe his architectural style, Little responds, "Whatever
makes you say 'Wow! ' is my style. I'll ask
a client, What do yo u like in a building?
What do you want in a building? What
will you do in that building and how
will it be used?' I'll show you many

different styles and designs, and when
I see your response, your reaction, I'll
know when I have produced something
that makes you say 'Wow!'."
Little doesn't believe in retirement.
He claims to be one of the lucky people.
He enjoys his work. He would like to
do more design work, but h e marvels in
the work of his employees and younger
designers who are so talented. He recalls
AI Cameron who died at age 42 and is
proud that he is so involved with his
family, consisting of five children and
seven grandchildren all living nearby.
Little's great joy in life is serving his
customers and making them happy. He
also works hard to stimulate his employees to be creative and to target business
goals that he hopes will take Littl e&.
Associates to new levels of architectural
activity and design .
His management style that fosters
freethinking and a bit of anarchy may
not be for everyone, but his success cannot be argued with. As Shakespeare put
it, "Though this be madness, yet there is
method in it. " biZI

We've been
through turbulent
times before.
Regardless of today's market climate, the
includes the distinct possibility of uncertainty
volatility. Not surprisingly, many investors fe1
adrift, unsure where to turn for advice. Shoul
you invest more in bonds or equ ities? More
in small caps or blue chips? Or keep more
cash on hand? While nobody can promise
you a ll the right answers, U.S . Trust can
promise you something invaluable : expertise
based on experience.
For over 145 years, through periods of
extreme uncertainty, we've been a bedrock of
for our clients, providing them with sound advice that has
helped preserve and enhance their wealth. In the process, we've become one of America 's premi er investment
advisory and wealth management firms. To learn how to weather the market's volatility, please contact
Sue W. Cole, President, U.S. Trust Company of North Carolina at 1-800-733-1355 or visit www.ustrust.com.

Evil. enthralled and horrified local audiences in theaters
and on late night television from the 1950s through the
1970s. 3ut he has anotr.er ace up his sleeve for these who
just can't get enough of :-Ialloween.
Morris has :cr:structed a statf-of-the-art, theater-quality haun:ed labyrinth
that vvill sbod: even the most jade::i IB.unted house gcer. Located at the rear of his
4,800 squ.are foot mstume shop, d1is extensive haunted maze feat..rres 3-D special
effect~.â&#x20AC;˘ laS<:rs, :trrimated garg::>yles, aliens, psychopaths, and corpses, wails that era'"' ,
floors that figb~ ::>~ck, and black holes.- all in a lengt_1y studio set whEre you become
the st:Jr in an me:artive hocor movie >

I
tb:.l simulates the real -_hing. "It's grEat
!x::r oovie sets," he says. "You put jt .1p.
il orr.es down easily, and you can use it
c.ga:in. This stuff is absdutely a:nazir1g
and jt retails for a:>oUL3 dollar."
Morris has developed additionc.l
prccucts, includir.g iliLSions aod
C:O•Jlmously large prop> priced up
leo 30,000. Even :he rock band
k_ctal.ica has purchased two el ?ctric
ch;:.irs from MorrL:;. ~
'f';cn, an inexpensive filrous

uring his nomadic Ghost
Show runs, Morris even
joined the circus. "''ve been
associated with the major circuses in the United States even Ringling Brothers," he says. But
Morris toured for several years with
the Royal Hanover Circus-the second
largest indoor circus in the world.
His wife, Amy, and children, Scott
and Terri, joined him on the road
until the children were school aged.
Ghost Shows eventually died
out, but Morris was already conquering
a new frontier-television. In the
mid-1960's, television executives
found success using Ghost Shows
to inuoduce movies that no one would
otherwise watch.
The well-established character,
Dr. Evil, made Morris' transition to
television even easier, and it was not
long before he was a star. Morris even
produced the award winning television.
show, 'Dr. Evil's Horror Theater'. Late
Friday nights, the ghost host Dr. Evil.
wou ld introduce the evening's feature

D

film, and proviC.e eerie segments
during coomercial breaks. "ThE -~n~
were unb ~ lieva - e." Morris reca· ls
"We ouuc..ted de Tonight Show wih
Jack Parr, and VP- were just a locall!
produced show.'
Jnter_stingl·;, it was the need ior
costumes in his television.

appeara.acE~

that led to Morris' involvement i::l - he
costumins business. Frustrated ar rot
being

we built this new 20,000-square-bot
facility at 4300 Monroe Road for our
retail store, some warehousing anj, as
o f this year, our new Haunted Hoose."
The horror business is definite y a
family affair. Wife, Amy, oversees

~

retail store. Son, Scott is general m<Ilager;
daughter, Terri, manages the office. At
si>:ty-five, Morris is surprisingly yc路uthful
and is already exploring new products
and props for next year. "My gran::isons
keep asking me when they can come

to

work for me," he quips.
But the haunted house is Morris'
baby. "The house," he says, "is go ng to
hElp us further understand the industry.
W?. could not possibly recoup the
money and labor we've put into it by
charging the public. But it gives us some
i!l5ight into the retail market, which has
al路Nays been part of our success." biz
::-..er .vitl:JUt t .e isflti~ efect5, 'tnis'
h;wnt:d hoc~~ -e;icem ::xr~ to ~~:>-rat.

Nethea Fortney Rhinehardt is a Char/atebased freelance writer.

octobe r

:;_coo

37

[biz
feature]

by casey jacobus

> > > > > > >

â&#x20AC;˘

> > > > > > >
Travel and tourism is a $2.3 billion business in Charlotte. The majority of visitors
are business travelers, and local hotels bend over backwards to cater to them.
But why is Charlotte's taxi system so lousy and what is being done to fix it?
The good, the bad and the ugly of traveling to Charlotte on business.

W

hen people think of travel destinations, Charlotte doesn't exactly top the list.

ut you may be surprised to know that the travel industry is actually quite good to Charlotte. According to the
arlotte Convention & Visitors Bureau <www.charlottecvb.org>, visitors to the Charlotte area not only spend
$2.3 billion annually, they help support the 36,000 jobs that are directly related to travel and tourism here.
Business travelers are the reason. The majority of the visitors to Mecklenburg County come for business; 53 percent to
do business with companies located in the area and 28 percent for conventions or other meetings. The Hospitality Alliance
<www.hosptitalityonline.com> estimates that business travelers account for 60 percent of the nights spent in Charlotte's 18,000room hotel market. They also estimate that each delegate to a convention stays an average of 4 days and spends an average of $819 .
"The business traveler is critical to our business," says Harold Bassler, manager of the Sheraton Charlotte Airport Hotel
<www.sheraton.com>. It's not surprising then that Charlotte hotels, especially downtown, cater to the business traveler. They offer
amenities ranging from limousine service, 24-hour laundry and dry cleaning to afternoon hors d'oeuvres, and extended hours for
room service in order to lure the business traveler. They also offer the latest technological advances and frequent guest programs to
encourage the repeat customer.
"We zero in on the type of thing the corporate traveler wants," says Bill Spencer, executive vice president with the
Panos Hotel Group <www.panoshotels.com>. With eight hotels open in the Charlotte area and four more under construction,
Panos is betting on Charlotte as a solid market for future business travel. >

38

october 2000

greater cha r lotte bi z

g··eater cur o-::te :•iz

o :to be- 2000

39

40

:::>ct ob e r 20 0 C

"Charlotte is doing a lot of thi::lgs
ri:51t, " says Spencer. "There's a lot cf
C.c.ss A office space coming to tO'IND
US Airways <www.usairways.com>
provides a good hub for gettng c.rcund
trE continental U.S.
Bu;inesses like to locate
.heJe because of all
thE positive things
lhct are going on. "
Bassler, who just
ret11med to Charlotte after
fClJ years in Dallas, says
the city has an excellent
re;:utation nationally.
"Charlotte is the talk of the k·~pi­
taliy industry as a hot market," he ny~ .
"I :'3 a great place to do busir:ess, a g:-eat
pla:e to live, and it's got grEat we:ath :>r.'

::::113rlo:te Convention Center We~tin
Hctel, ·..v::1ich is set to open in thE summer
::>f 2002. (See sidebar on page 43.)
"Th ~ market has gotten mu:h more
: ompetbve in the past four years, "
Bassler says. 'You really
have to offer something
special to comr:ete."

A matter of conne:ti'Jity

Chlilo:te and Tower also offers in-room

Bassler says he is amazed at _l.O"orl
nu.:ch Charlotte has grown .-bring b s
:m j Jurn in Texas and at hoV' marry h.otel
rocms have been added. Si.J.: ~l.undred
nev hotel rooms are currently ur:du
::cr:struction in the center cit:; alc·r.e,
?.r
that does not include the 700-:r=oo

high SJ:e ~ d Internet access for a ~ mall
fee. In acdition, it has a full service busi-

For hotels that : ater
to the business traveler
this means keeping
up with the l:l.lest technological ad\ar:ces.
When Hilton

<www.h:lton.corn> took over the old
'Nestin J-;otel uptown, for examr:·le,
they eq[jpped all rooms with two
phone li1es and two data pons for
dial-up connections. The new tLlton

ness cen- er with computer

wo ~k~tations,

and fax, : opying and secretarial ;ervices.
"The majority of our business is the
buEiness traveler," acknowledges
!viarshall Hilliard, director of ~ ab and

grea t er c har lott e biz

marketing at the Hilton Charlotte and
Tower. "People stay in the uptown area
because of its proximity to so many
offices and restaurants."
At Panos' new Hampton Inn and
Suites uptown, developers are putting in a
high-tech training room whose amenities
include video-conferencing, high-speed
Internet access and wireless technology.
Spencer estimates that Panos is making a
$40,000 investment in the room, which
will seat approximately 40 people.
Sixty-percent of business at the
Marriott City Center <www.marriott.com>
comes from business travelers, so all of the
434 rooms at the hotel have been special ly
equipped for their comfort. "We call it the
'room that works;" says manager Jim
Diehl. "We know people who travel on
business or to conventions are doing a lot
more communicating with their home
offices from their rooms. "
Each Marriott room now has a
functional desk that easily converts for
working, eating or watching 'IV. Chairs
are ergonomical ly designed so guests
can be comfortable while working. The
hotel has also recently provided high
speed Internet connections to all rooms.
Even the smaller 60-room Dunhill
Hotel <www.dunhiUhotel.com> realizes
business guests want technology as well
as personal service. General manager Jim
Farah says th e hotel keeps extra adapters,
connectors and batteries on hand for
guests to borrow if their laptop computer dies. All of its rooms also have two
phone lines and Internet access.
The Sheraton Airport targets the
business traveler through two floors
dedicated specifically for their comfort.
The rooms on these floors are equipped
with Mobilestar, a wireless high speed
Internet access system.
"It's very business-friendly," says
Bassler. "People don't have to o·awl
around behind the bed trying to plug their
laptops into the lamp or something."
Bassler says the hotel researched
what business travelers want by using
focus groups and surveys. As a result, its
dub rooms are equipped with oversized
work desks and ergonomic chairs. The
hotel also lures business travelers with
upgraded amenities, including a )>greater charlotte biz

lounge where travelers can do business,
as well as get breakfast in the morning
and hors d'oeuvres in the afternoon.
"The cl ub lounge is used all the
time," says Bassler. "It's very co nvenient
if you need to meet with som eo ne and
don't want to rent a meeting room or
entertain them in yo ur bedroom."
At the Dunhill, Farah tries to keep
the focus on personal service for the
business traveler, even while he moves
the hotel into the technological age.
"We make sure they find the kind
of service they expect, " says Farah . "The
Dunhill is a unique European-style
hotel. It's very intimate. We depend on
attention to detail to attract customers."
Farah says that includes providing
for early check-ins and late check-outs
and providing 24-hour dry cleaning, a
nightly shoe shine, and a limousine
with a chauffeur. It also means paying
dose attention to the individual needs
of the traveler.
"One business traveler forgot his
tie, " says Farah. "I offered to lend him
mine or to send someone out to buy

him one. Our challenge is to have a 100
percent satisfaction record. "
The Hilton has two keyed-off
floors that offer the business traveler
added privacy, plus access to a private
lounge with continental breakfast and
afternoon hors d'oeuvres, bathrobes,
upgraded bath amenities, and use of
the YMCA next door.

"Charlotte is
the talk of the
hospitalitY.
industry as
a hat mark t:â&#x20AC;˘
- Harold Bassler
Sheraton Airport Hotel
Taking a page from the airlines' frequent flier programs, many hotels now
have a program that allows guests to
earn points through repeat visits. These
programs are aimed especially at the
business traveler who travels often and
frequently returns to Charlotte.
The Dunhill started a repeat-guest
program last year that rewards guests every

time they stay in the hotel. Frequent visitors can earn everything from boxes of
Godiva chocolates to a gift certificate for
two for dinner in the adjoining Monticello
Restaurant to free rooms.
Guests at The Sheraton chain earn
two Starpoints for every dollar spent.
Starpoints can be redeemed for free
nights at any Sheraton Hotel across the
globe, or for free flights, room pgrades
or gift certificates.
The Hilton enrolls guests in the
Hhonors Program in which travelers
accumulate points toward free stays.
"The point is to encourage loyalty, "
says Hilliard. "We want the business
traveler to stay with us every time he
makes a trip to Charlotte."
In addition to the Holiday Inn
Priority Club program in which members collect points towards free t1ights
and rooms, Judith Hanlon, manager
of the Holiday Inn Woodlawn

<www.ho liday-inn.com/ clt -south>,
has recently added an in-house preferred
guest program which rewards the guest
who stays two or three times a month ~

In Charlotte, It's How You
Get Ahead In Business.
At the McColl School, all courses are relevant to the needs
of today's organizations and in-synch with what is happening in
business right now. This means that students are rewarded with
useful insights and new ways of thinking in virtually every classroom
experience. In short, participants find value in the McColl School
programs immediately, not just when they receive their degrees.

wi th free d .nners, room upgrades, and a
newspc.per delivered to the room.
"T.1 e 1-:otel market is so tough right
now," Han on says, "Everybody is trying
to find a gimmick wh ich makes them
more attractive."
Almost all of th e hotels which

speak English well enough to communicate. The standards required by the city
are very minimal: cabs have to have four
doors, seat belts, pass safety inspections
and have no broken windshield .
However, the 900 or so cabs and
shuttle buses that operate on ly at the
airport have not had to meet even
those minimal standards.
"The group that operates just at
the airport was not subject to th e terms
of the old ordinance," says Captain
Mike Falkenberry, an inspector with
the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police
Department.
The city passed a new ordinance in
May that wi ll bring the airport cabs into
comp li ance with its standards. The new
ordi nance also mandates response times
and provide for comprehensive licensing for all "for-hire" veh icles. It requires
training courses for drivers and provides
for a vehicle inspection program .
"The new ordinance is an attempt
to upgrade the professionalism of the
taxi industry," says Falkenberry. "It also
addresses concerns about the age and
co nditi ons of the vehicles."
However, the new ordinance wi ll
not go into effect until July 1, 2001
and no one is sure who will enforce it.
"Inspection may or may not
remain with the police department,"
says Falkenberry. "We're looking
at the possibility of privatizing the
inspection process. "

Value given and received
The majority of business travelers
to Charl o tte give it high ra tings of
satisfacti o n a nd value-for-th e-mo ney.
According to the Co nventio n and
Visitor's Bureau, fi fry- two percent of
them rated it in th e "Excell ent
Satisfactio n " category in a 1998 survey.
Charl o tte co nsistently ranks well amo ng
the citi es it is most often co mpared
with : Cincinnati, Indianapo lis,
Pittsburgh, Phil adelphi a a nd Ba ltimo re.
The Charl otte area benefits greatly

Greg Panos never intended to become a hotel magnate. Even with
a background in finance, he had to be goaded into it. In an industry
with so many designations, he never expected to succeed.

Y~.panoshotels.com>

\ . l ,d Entrep<enem of the Ye>< in I 997 by the Ch•dotte Ch•mbe< of Commme, the p<e;ident of P•no' Hotcl Gmup
must have done something right. He has developed, owns and operates eight hotels in the

Charlotte area and has four more under construction. Future plans include two office and retail developments. All of this
development has taken place at breakneck speed - the first four hotels opened within three years.
·;:
"'
L..

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He says the first time anyone asked him how he got where
he is, it stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Well, I just did," Panos laughs. "You go through life and
never really stop to think about what you're doing until somebody asks you. It's like driving from this point to that point.

greater charlotte biz

You make a right turn and then a left turn and then
you're there.
''I'm a risk taker. I don't have any children so my thrill
in life- since I'm such a lousy golfer- is this business.
I like putting deals together. " ~

o ct o be r 2000

47

anos says he was fortunate
to move here and become
involved with real estate
lending. But, he credits one man
for the push into the hotel business.
"I guess I have to thank a gentleman
named Charlie johnson who really
bounced my ears one day. I was in the
finance business and was talking about
getting into the hotel business. He said,
'Either get the heck in or get the heck
out. Nobody can do anything they're
not committed to : "
That remark was like releasing
the break on an idling locomotive.
"I built the Comfort Inn in Monroe
in 1986 along with two partners. It was
a $1.5 million deal. One partner put in
$42,000 cash . Then I helped him get
financing and develop a Comfort Inn
in Matthews. By the time it was opening,
I had a piece of property in Kannapolis
under contract. I obtained full interest
in the hotel in Matthews. Then we
acquired the Lake Norman property
for that Comfort Inn .
"The timing was incredible. We
were acquiring cheap property going on
the Atlanta theory that everything would
grow out to you. We built four hotels in
'86, '87 and '88. We were working about
80-100 hours a week just flat out.
"I'd never run a hotel in my life.
The experts have all these designations
in the hotel business and they'll give
you a mountain of reasons why you

shouldn't have been able to do what I
did. I just wasn't smart enough to know
I couldn't do it," he jokes.
"These hotels were exterior corridor,
60-90 room hotels so they were going to
come under stiff competition. We sold them
ul came to

for $12.25 million. Our Atlanta in 1977, kicking and for other people you
interest was worth
screaming. Now I see it was are viewed as unsuc$3.25 million."
cessful. I was conthe
greatest
thing
that
stantly being asked
A large trust out of
why I didn 't own
Chicago bought them
ever happened to me/,
in january 1995 as part
my own business. I
-Greg Panos
of an 18-hotel package.
guess it took coming
"It was like a Wall Street movie with
of age in my 40s before I could focus in
on what I wanted to do. "
those long tables where everyone sits
around putting merger deals together.
Destination: Charlotte
There were lawyers, legal assistants, title
"I came to Charlotte from Atlanta
people... there were 40 people in this
in
1977,
kicking and screaming. Back
room and they were really cooking.
then the town only had a semi-pro
This lawyer was signing and distributing
checks. In the midst of all the chaos, he
stops dead in his tracks and says, 'What
in the world is this check for $42,000
doing here?'
"Our attorney Smithy Curry, a great
Southern gentleman drawls, 'Well, that's
the original capital that went into this:
"There was this dead silence. Then
he said, 'You mean to tell me this whole
thing was built on $42,000 cash?'
"Well, we were cash flow starved
from the day we started," Panos chuckles.
"We like kind exchanged most of
our profits into the Hampton Inn in
Matthews in '95 and in Concord in '96

the job Honey!
nk God they didn't
k
background!

48

o ct ob e r 20 00

and the Hampton Inn and Suites in
Pineville in '97. Now we had more competitive hotels with interior corridors. "
Panos says he sees his heritage laying
the groundwork for what he does now.
"In a Greek
Charlotte from family, if you work

football team and they'd just gotten
liquor by the drink. Now I see it was the
greatest thing that ever happened to me.
I had the experience of watching Atlanta
grow from a kind of small town. Now
I saw Charlotte duplicating that growth
and I had some insight as to what was
going to happen here.
"I ended up working in
commercial lending, making loans
for hotels and restaurants in the early
80's - great preparation . I needed to
understand money - how to borrow
it, how to prepare loan packages,
how to talk to lenders.

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greater charlo tte b iz

People brought me their dreams and
laid them on the table every day and
l saw the good way to do it and the
bad way to do it. I was in Charlotte
when it exploded. Back then Atlanta
banks could only operate in five
counties. Charlotte banks were
statewide so they had a lot of clout
and leverage. BINGO!"
Panos now owns one Hampton Inn
and is a partner in two Hampton Inn
and Suites, including one at Phillips
Place in South Park. He owns two
Hilton Garden Inns, and one Comfort
Suites in Gastonia. Under construction,
are the Hilton Garden In n and the
Hampton Inn downtown, a Hilton
Garden Inn in Rock Hill and a
Comfort Suites at Harris Blvd. and 1-77.
Each has a story.
"I got this call in 1996 from Lee
Curry, a CPA in Gastonia, who had
property he wanted me to look at for
a hotel. I said, 'Look, I don't have any
more money, I'm tapped out: But he
said not to worry about it. Three weeks

ong the properties developed by Panos is the Hampton Inn and Suites in SolP· illips Place.
rnon~y

for a feasibility study? What's

said, 'Obviously you don't urdEI3tc. nd

tbi.s m : r_ey for points?' Well, I said, if

because we're going to need

y::u h<lVE a loan you have to have a fea~ i :: ility study and pay points. C.W. said

lion to do this hotel : He says 'I understand and I want you to get s-ar:cd in

~\?

60 days. We shook hands on the dEal

dich:'t need any of that because he

~·35

~- 5 . 3

IT.il-

b .: i l~ "ti-E

gamg to finance the whole hotel."

and never looked back and

.?Dos laughs incredulously. "I

Comfort Suites in Gastonia. "

·~

later I met with him.
"He said, 'I've checked up on
you. I know who you are. You're a
nice businessman: He whips out this
folder with clipped articles on us for

Build A Stronger Connectio
With Your Customers.

the last three years. He represented a

Customer contact is the lifeblood of your business.

gentleman named C.W. Smith who

Every missed call can be a missed sale. And constant

invented the process of rebuilding
transmissions for car companies. Lee
asked me to put together a package
on this property for C.W. I want you
to build it because you guys know
what you're doing, he said .
"I put the package together and saw
it was going to take about 25 percent
capital, with the land worth about
$600,000. But it would probably
take another $500,000 in capital to
put this thing together. I worried
about the numbers.
"I go out there and here's C.W.
on a tractor in his overalls smoking a
huge cigar, grading this piece of property. I'm in my suit getting my shoes dirty.
"I make the presentation in a conference room and C.W. asks, 'What's this

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''I'm exhausted. This last round has
"We soared 2,600 hotel rooms in
gone on since '97. The market is getting
Charlotte last year. Occupancy spikes up
overbuilt here and we need to stop. "
and spikes down . But we have six milPanos says he looks to his wife,
lion square feet of office space under
Barbara,
to help him slow down.
construction: four million in the sub"She's the perfect fit for me. She's
urbs, two million downtown. That alone
lowkey and happy-go-lucky. She settles
is the emphasis to support development.
me. We travel to places like California or
We just need to slow down some of the
Miami Beach and just cool it. We do
building of hotels. I think that will take
what we want to do when we want to
place over the next 18 months. Let the
do it. We eat at nice restaurants, go to
market absorb this number of hotels
the beach, play some golf."
and then we'll move on.
Some of his ideas for community
"Charlotte's economy is going to
however, are just gathering steam.
be strong over the next five years. We're
Along with his business interests, he
having trouble slowing it down. That's
is deeply involved in the Charlotte
the problem. The real estate business is
Chamber, serving on the Advisory
taking the brunt of all the exuberance
Board as well as the Convention
on Wall Street because the only way to
slow it down is to
&. Visitors Bureau,
~'We
just
need
to
slow
raise interest rates."
the Hospitality
Panos says

down some of the building

Tourism Alliance

there's a difference

of hotels. I think that will

and Destination

between now and the

Charlotte.
Panos longs to
months. Let the market
that makes the busimake lasting contriness cycle stronger.
absorb this number of hotels butions and his
group has searched
"All the deals
and then we'll move on."
for ways to use their
have real equity in
hotels to significant-Greg
Panos
them now. That has
ly benefit people.
changed the dynamics of the
They finally found it with Presbyterian
business, too. Before, people built
Hospital's Hemby Children's Hospital.
for tax benefits and didn't care
"We learned we have families who
if they lost money. This time around,
come in from out of town when their
you have to be an experienced operator.
children need medical help and may not
You're also required to put replacement
have the resources to spend days or
reserves in escrow so every real estate
weeks here. Their children fall between
deal will have money to refurbish,
programs and the parents' stay isn't covinsuring fewer rundown hotels in
ered by insurance. Our downtown facilithe marketplace.
ty is only going to be one mile away
from Presbyterian Hospital.
"Automation allows you to run
"The project is a perfect marriage.
hotel operations with a lot fewer people.
Their needs and our needs fit perfectly
We have 250 employees. We only added
giving all of us a sense of putting
two people when we increased to eight
something
back.
hotels from five. When we can bring on
1970s to mid '80s

take place over the next 18

exponentially fewer people and more
hotels, everything gets more profitable.
"I no longer have to wait 45 days to
figure out how we did in June. Running
eight hotels requires constant information so I can make changes in rates,
changes in schedules, in all different
categories instantaneously."

g re ate r c h ar lo tte b iz

"I feel like this [business] thing
is put together for a purpose. Maybe I
don't know what it is, but I feel it will
be beneficial down the road . I feel
everything we've done over the years,
we've been led to, so it'll find its way. " bi
Kathy Mendieta is a Charlotte-based
freelance writer.

octo b er 2)00

5

[ebizprofile]

by nethea fortney rhinehardt

leveling the playing field
iReadyWorld's technology service is helping small to mid-sized businesses
compete with industry leaders

design the LAN, not just a pre-made solution . They helped us design a system and
worked with us on the standard software
configurations, and we didn't have to buy
any equipment. Other IT companies just
couldn't do that."
Khindaria and Ostrow's ba ckgrounds
could ward off any would-be co mpetitors .
Khindaria completed a Ph.D. in computational biochemistry at Utah State. As a
graduate student he worked on supercomputers and helped several West Coast
companies launch their networks and
Internet products. First Union
<www.firstunion.com> tapped his
expertise to develop the ir cyber-banking
product in 1997. As chairman & CEO of
iReadyWorld, Khindaria plots strategy and
product development for iReadyWorld .
Ostrow grew up in Charlotte and
received degrees from Duke University. He
also holds a law degree and received a
master's in tax law from Emory University.
At iReadyWorld, Ostrow oversees day-to-day
operations, sales and marketing.
The company has an astonishing
lack of direct competitors in its market
niche. "We are the only ones enploying
a subscription-based model- :Jer user,
per month," Ostrow comments. "We are
the only ones employing a subscription based model- per user, per month ."
Twenty-four employees strong and
growing, iReadyWorld hopes its plan will
work in new markets. Khindaria stresses
the ir business concept isn 't exactly new.
"We've taken a large enterprise model,
repackaged it, and made it available and
cost-effective for small to mid-sized busi-

54

nesses- a market segment that couldn 't

Mei•chaiulishtg

afford it earlier. It's all about execution ."

Solutions

Nethea Fortney Rhinehardt is a Charlottebased freelance writer.

oc:ober 2000

i

greater charlotte biz

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a fight. On the Monday morning following
his death, students wore orange arm
bands and vowed to form an organization
against violence in memory of Alex.
Schools around the world have opened
over 500 S.A.V.E. chapters, exceeding
60,000 members, for teens who want to
support nonviolence. The Center for the
Prevention of School Violence serves as

.....~

the S.A.V.E. clearinghouse.
"Every school ought to be a safe one

lNC(}lAJillJITE
The

TI~e

ive!Sity r>fNoct Caroira al CJarl•Jttc

Offke C• Cc n!inni g Ednc::.tiJn

SUCCESSFUL M~NAGEMENT
A Le::ldership

Devdoprr.et"~

Savs jJr Managm Jnd Supmisorr

and WAVE America will help get every kid
involved. This program is more t han just
a tip line. It teaches students and parent~
to look for the early signs of violent
behavior and to resolve conflicts constructively," stated Hunt at the February
WAVE America kick-off press conference
and rally. "A safe school environment is fun-

Pick ar..d C h cose :tio:-n 1£ ::iffe:en t ?rogr.1ms.

damental to helping North Carolina's stu-

Selies legi'fs MtJich 2101

public schools 'First In America' by 2010."

Call

7()4-687-2 24 for a

dents succeed in school, and to making our

b rochure.

In addition to the tip line, WAVE also
includes a public awareness campaign
that encourages students to express their
concerns about violence to a trusted
adult. The awareness brochures are
designed to be a catalyst for discussing
the early warning signs of violence.
Through brochures and other collateral
material the WAVE program encourages
teens to speak to a trusted adu lt before
utilizing the WAVE tip line.
"WAVE stresses the importance of

ocot:er

-;.o •:::o

greater charlotte

bi~

teens understanding that their actions
today affect their employment in the
future. At the same time, corporations
can play a vital role in making schools
safer, and they are certain to benefit
from their investment in the long run,"
states Powell. He points out that stud e n :~
are now making decisions and are
developing patterns in areas such as
conflict resolution, integrity and perso nc. l
responsibility that will carry over into
the business world .
PSG is just one example of how
corporations are using their expertise to
assist schools . Local businesses can
support the efforts of WAVE America in
many different ways, ranging from spa r sorships to ongoing initiatives, such as
offering WAVE cardholders discounts anj
sponsoring Web links.
For the past three decades, PSG ha.o
shown a commitment to integrity in thE

"WAVE will go a long way
toward reinforcing ethical
responsibility, teaching the

early warning signs of threatening behavior, and opening
channels of communication
that foster positive action."
-

N.C. Governor Jim Hunt

workplace by offering clients employee
selection solutions such as background
verification, assessments and drug
screening. Now, through the WAVE
America program, PSG is expanding its
commitment to working against violence
everywhere, including in the schools.
"WAVE will go a long way toward
reinforcing ethical responsibility, teach' o-g
the early warning signs of threatening
behavior, and opening channels of com ·
munication that foster positive

action,~

says Hunt, "and it is the right thing to
do. We must act now to put this publicprivate initiative in place across North
Carolina and then serve as a model for
similar programs across our country."
If you would like information regard ·
ing this program, contact WAVE Public

If you• travel !.pending is more than the cost of six to eight first class tickets per
month; you a,, afford a quartEr share of a used ~ mall business jet or tl.lrbo prop.

of the 100,000-plus stude,ts ._,ho
earned into Charlotte-Mecldenbu g
s ools this year is a reason to get
mvolved in preventing school v·)tercefor their sake today and for our business
community's sake tomorrow.
Fortunately, a new program has swept across

tis 3n alarming statistic that, even though
schcol vi::J lence is being addressed , one in four
studerts continues to be a victim of a violent act
thc:t occ t. rs in or around school, according to the

MEtropolitan Life Survey or the American Teacher,
199} : V.alence in America's Public Schools- Five
Yea~

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